Rep. Nan Hayworth, a freshman Republican for whom abortion rights have proved a bit of a sticky wicket over the past two years, was one of just two House members to vote “present” yesterday on a bill that would have banned abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Hayworth was joined by Rep. Steven LaTourette, an Ohio Republican who announced yesterday that he won’t seek re-election this fall, citing frustration with the partisan gridlock in Washington, where “compromise” has become a dirty word.

The abortion ban bill, which is based on the disputed claim that fetuses can feel pain at a gestational age of 20 weeks or older, failed to pass the House.

The vote was 220-154, with 17 Democrats joining 203 Republicans to support the measure, but because it was considered under special rules requiring a two-thirds vote for passage, the bill will not proceed to the Democrat-controlled US Senate, where it was unlikely to be brought to the floor anyway.

Three other members of the New York congressional delegation – Republican Rep. Richard Hanna and Democratic Reps. Brian Higgins and Ed Towns – did not vote on the legislation.

Towns, a Brooklyn Democrat who has a history of missing votes, is retiring at the end of the year. Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries won the June 26 Democratic primary to replace Towns, and, barring some unforeseen circumstance, is a near sure thing to carry the November general election.

Higgins has a solid pro-choice voting record, but he hails from the Buffalo area, where Democrats tend to be on the more conservative side. Hanna is a rare bird – a moderate Republican (practically an endangered species these days. He’s pro-choice and got into some hot water with some more conservative colleagues when he attended a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment in March and urged women to give their campaign cash to the Democrats, who are trying to win back the majority this fall.

NARAL Pro-Choice America calls her “mixed choice,” noting she earned a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee in 2011 and only a five percent rating from NARAL itself.

Hayworth is seeking re-election this fall in a newly-drawn district (NY-18). Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, a former Spitzer/Paterson administration aide, won the June 26 Democratic primary and will try to knock the congresswoman from her perch in November.